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The Ohio Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill yesterday designed to keep bad teachers from moving to a new school district to escape trouble.

"For those who choose to do things that are not professional or (are) even criminal in nature, no longer will they be able to hide their tales," said Sen. Gary Cates, a West Chester Republican and sponsor of Senate Bill 270. "If they commit an offense someplace, people are going to know about it right away."

Responding to a 10-month Dispatch investigation last fall that found the state's system for catching and disciplining rule-breaking educators is riddled with problems, the bill passed 32-1 on an active legislative day that included House approval of a bill that prohibits public entities from posting documents online with Social Security numbers.

Under the teacher-discipline bill, the license of a teacher convicted of murder, rape, sexual contact with a minor or a host of other serious crimes would be revoked immediately. The bill also would require a school district to immediately remove a teacher from the classroom if he or she is charged with one of more than 80 criminal offenses -- the same crimes that prevent a person from obtaining a teacher's license in Ohio.

Cates noted that just this week, a 26-year-old teacher in the Mason school district had inappropriate contact with an 18-year-old girl. She reported it, and the teacher resigned.

"Under current law, this teacher could go anywhere else in the state, or to any other state, and not have to tell anybody why he left his job," Cates said.

The new bill would exempt from background checks construction workers, delivery people and others who may enter a school but not have direct contact with students. Superintendents, or others required to report offenses involving school personnel to the state, would be subject to misdemeanor charges if they fail to do so.

Sen. Joy Padgett, a Coshocton Republican and chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee, said no group testified in opposition to the bill. She said it contains several provisions that the Ohio Department of Education has requested for years.

"We really do need to do this for the kids," she said.

The bill now goes to the Ohio House, where a committee has held several hearings on the same bill and Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering, has expressed interest in acting on the issue.

In November, the General Assembly passed legislation requiring broader criminal-background checks for teachers by requiring them to undergo an FBI review every five years.

Also yesterday, the House gave final, unanimous approval to House Bill 46, an anti-identity-theft measure that would allow Ohioans to place a freeze on their credit reports for any reason at a cost of no more than $5.

The bill also would require public officials to remove Social Security numbers and other personal identifying information from records available on the Internet. It would allow safety workers to have their names replaced with their initials on public property-tax documents.